Twice Upon a Time
by Noellefics
Summary: Time Travel AU. One of the Liar's children goes farther back in time than she planned and ends up in high school with her parents. Can she help them with A? Will she be able to travel back to her future?
1. Chapter 1

It seemed simple enough: go back in time a few days and stop herself from borrowing her mama's necklace. Yet somehow, here she was 20 years in the past.

Dusting herself off, she looked around the room, full of photographs, black hoodies, and dolls. Peeking out the window, she recognized the Lost Woods Resort sign from pictures her aunt had shown her. Her aunt had bought the property and turned it into her own personal workshop, claiming that she worked best when isolated from the world.

Now though, the room looked nothing like her aunt's workshop and more like a creepy shrine. She needed to get out of here and hide the time machine before whatever obsessed nutcase renting the room came back.

The machine was surprisingly light and she managed to get it outside the "resort" quickly. Once outside, she finally had a chance to inspect the machine. Her aunt had been secretly building it to "fix the past" and "undo all the hurt she had caused" but hadn't had a chance to test it yet. If she ever managed to go back to her time, she could tell her aunt that it did indeed work. Unfortunately, the red blinking light that read _LOW FUEL_, made her doubt ever getting back.

Still, she couldn't just stay at the creepy motel all night. Taking a guess, she pressed the CONCEAL button, stepping back as the machine transformed into a car in front of her. Stepping inside, she silently thanked her parents for letting her take her driver's test early.

Driving toward the nearest town, she noticed the fuel gauge on the car wasn't connected to the low fuel light she had seen earlier. Somehow, she needed to find her aunt and figure out what type of fuel the time machine uses.

As she drove, she noticed the sign for Rosewood. Wasn't that where her parents grew up? Turning onto the main street, she saw the busy parking lot of Rosewood High. Curiosity found the best of her, and she was soon entering the high school that her parents were always reluctant to talk about. Walking the halls, she soon found herself face-to-face with her mother, just twenty years younger.

"You must be new, what's your name? I'm Paige"

"I'm Sydney," she replied, gulping.


	2. Chapter 2

After a day of registering for classes, taking assessment tests, and glancing at people that look vaguely familiar, Sydney was set up at Rosewood High for the time being. She had managed to find one of her parents there, so maybe she would be able to find her aunt as well. Plus, she could finally learn what secrets they had been hiding from her about high school.

Her mom, Paige, had actually helped a lot in showing her around the school. When they reached the pool, Paige asked her if she swam. While swimming was just a hobby for Sydney, she said yes. Paige was so excited that she managed to convince the coach to let Sydney try out after school that day for the team.

By the time Paige had finished the tour, it was time for lunch. As they walked toward the cafeteria, Sydney finally spotted her mama. Emily was flustered and she definitely didn't want her first meeting with her to be with an "angry mama bear" as her mom would call it.

Still, Sydney noticed how her mama brushed her mom off so quickly, like they weren't dating, or friends even. She decided she would have to ask Paige about it later. But now, here she was sitting at a table with Paige and her friends, eagerly looking for anyone familiar.

Across the room, she spotted a petite girl giving orders to a few other students. Her demeanor was harsh, unlike her aunt's warm behavior she remembered and her clothing style had definitely changed, but Sydney was sure that was her aunt.

Paige caught her stare and whispered, "Better to stay away from that one. There's a lot going on with her and a couple other girls, and you do not want to be caught up in that mess."

Taking the opportunity, Sydney asked "Does it have to do with the Emily girl you were talking to earlier? I know she was really great on the swim team, but you two acted like strangers back there."

Paige chuckled, "Emily Fields will always be involved in the biggest drama at this school. Her and her friends, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, and Hanna Marin are at the center of any issue here, in this town even,"

Sydney pondered Paige's comment through lunch and her afternoon classes. She hadn't recognized any of those names. Why had her mama never mentioned them? Or the drama they caused? And why was her aunt bad news too?


	3. Chapter 3

Swim tryouts went as well as Sydney could have hoped. The girl knew she was no all-star swimmer and was happy enough to make the team and have an excuse to hang out with Paige.

After tryouts though, Sydney found herself in an empty hallway with just her and her mama. It had been hard enough to persuade Paige that she didn't need a ride home, and the girl hardly knew where she could stay. She really didn't want to go back to the creepy hotel, but where else could she go? She remembered her mothers joking about a boy caught sleeping in the air vents, so staying at school was an option, but the place had to be deserted for that to work.

For now, Sydney messed with the few contents of her locker, glancing at Emily occasionally. She thought she was being stealthy, until Emily started marching her way.

"Yes I'm the friend of dead girl walking. You can stop staring now."

Dead girl walking? Whatever was going on was definitely not something her parents had told her about.

"I'm sorry? I just saw all your trophies in the case. You're Emily Fields, right? I just transferred here and I want to be a better swimmer."

When the two girls made eye contact, Emily realized her mistake and softened.

"Oh, well I'm not the right person to ask. I don't swim anymore."

"Because of an injury? You still know plenty more about technique than I do. Just a few pointers?"

Emily agreed to watch her swim the next day and took off, still slightly embarrassed about accusing the girl.

After checking that the halls were empty, Sydney snuck into the deserted library to do some research. Several hours later, she had more questions than answers. Why had her aunt terrorized her mama? Was this what she wished she could undo? Did her mama really kill a man in order to save her mom? What was the connection between her parents and a murder investigation?

Meanwhile, Mona drove up to the Lost Woods Resort. Earlier that day, she had received a text alert that someone had broken in. Usually it just meant a squirrel had managed to squeak through a cracked-open window, but this time, she noticed fresh tire tracks on the private drive.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Sydney managed to find a half-decent shirt from the lost-and-found box to wear before meeting Emily at the pool. Changing into her new Sharks swimsuit, she found herself on the end of a million questions: what was her diet like? How much did she train? Where in the lineup was she at her old school?

She answered the questions the best she could, and finally, Emily relinquished and told Sydney to jump in the pool so she could watch her form.

After a couple laps, Emily had already formulated a new training plan for the girl. When Sydney saw the immense amount of exercise Emily had planned for her, she began to regret her decision. However, hearing that her mama would at least do the running with her made it a little better.

The next few days were a blur; Sydney had found the local mall and was pleasantly surprised that inflation was on her side and she was able for a few new outfits. Nights were spent ether researching the town and her mothers' friends or training with Emily or Paige. Her days were filled with boring classes that she found a little too easy.

Throughout it all, she had noticed that her aunt seemed to be watching her. At first, Sydney planned to approach her but after everything Paige had told her and what she had learned through her research, she was scared to.

Yet, everywhere she went, Mona was there too. She had finally managed to get her parents together for coffee at a local shop, the conversation was fun, and pleasant, when of course, she noticed Mona staring at her a couple tables away. While her aunt, in the future, had always been a bit intense, this was something completely new.

Paige noticed the staring as well, and quickly said she had to leave.

"Hey, before you do, I noticed there was this school sing-along going on tomorrow. Do you want to come? Both of you?" Sydney asked.

Staying at the school wouldn't work if lots of people were going to the movie, and the girl definitely didn't want to go alone. The movie was one that she had seen many times in her childhood, but was apparently relatively new now.

Emily and Paige shared a glance before agreeing. Almost immediately after meeting the younger girl, they had both felt a connection with her.

As they finished their coffee and made plans, Mona decided to confront Paige today and Sydney tomorrow.

**A/N:** I truly appreciate the feedback I've gotten. This started out as me writing out my (cracky!) head canon of how Sydney fit into the plot, but I'm planning on fleshing the idea out fully. Based on the last episode, I expect the plot to diverge more from the show—no Emison kisses planned! In addition, the next chapter is about 630 words and I'm hoping the chapters get gradually longer from there.


	5. Chapter 5

When Paige pulled into her driveway and saw another car parked by the street, she wasn't surprised. Mona had tried to recruit her for A3, the anti-Alison army, but she wasn't interested in anything to do with either girl. Alison had ruined her life at one point, but Paige was better now and didn't need revenge. Mona, though, desperately felt the need to do to Alison what she had done to her.

"Hello, Mona. Is there a reason you're parked outside my house?"

"I noticed you, Emily, and the new girl seem pretty close. It would be a shame if either got hurt, in relation to this Alison mess, wouldn't it?"

"Mona, I told you. I want to stay out of this fight."

"You know, back when I was A, Toby joined me. He did it to protect Spencer. He loved her enough to do that. It made life a lot easier for Spencer after that. She didn't end up in any boxes destined to be sawed in half, did she? I guess you don't love Emily enough for that, do you though?"

"How does it feel to turn into the person you're afraid of, Mona? Get lost. Your threats don't bother me."

As Paige went inside after watching Mona drive off, she tried to shake off Mona's words. Emily really could be caught in the crossfire between Alison and Mona, but joining up with A3 wouldn't fix anything, either.

A few hours of homework and studying went by before Paige found herself on her bike, heading for Emily's house. For the first time in weeks, she was in Emily's bedroom, actually having more than a two-minute conversation with her, alone.

"So she just threatened you with my safety? You can't let her manipulate you into helping, Paige."

"Would it be so bad, though? Mona is always a step ahead! It couldn't hurt to have me on the inside, letting you know what's going to happen, could it?"

"It is too dangerous. Besides, Mona would probably test you to make sure you weren't telling us her plans. Someone is going to get hurt badly here and I don't want it to be you."

"I don't want it to be you either, Emily. Or Sydney for that matter—Mona threatened me about her too. I guess Mona noticed how much time we both have been spending with her."

"I guess we have. Speaking of, Spence told me something about her earlier. She said that Sydney had been staying late in the library every day since she got here and she's been the first one at school in the morning. You don't think she's staying there, do you?"

"I did notice there's been a car parked in the same spot for a couple of days now. She seem too young to drive, so it doesn't mean it is hers, but maybe she is staying there. Is it our business if she is though?"

"No one deserves to sleep on those hard library chairs, Paige."

Paige let out a little laugh. "This is just like that time that you wanted to adopt the "poor, hungry dog" that would show up in your backyard every night."

"Paige, it's _soooo_ hungry. It ate all the food I gave it! The collar doesn't have a tag on it so it must be abandoned!" Paige mocked.

"Okay, how was I supposed to know that the neighbor's dog liked to escape? It totally could have been homeless!" Emily defended.

"It sure could have, Emmy. Look, I'll keep an ear out for anything about Mona and I'll see if I can learn more about Sydney too."

As they said their goodnights, Emily couldn't help but notice how naturally they fell into their conversation, after relations between the two girls had been so awkward for nearly a month.


	6. Chapter 6

Classes went by uneventfully for Sydney. Despite being a sophomore, she tested well enough on her assessment tests to be placed in many of the same classes as the seniors. Education had always been important to her parents and it seemed teaching in general made massive leaps in the next 20 years.

As her mind drifted during the literature lecture, she thought of the new bond she had with her parents. Even though she couldn't tell them who she really was, she felt like she had never been closer to them. Back home, she hated when they tried to push her into swimming, but now her swim lessons were the favorite part of her day.

Whenever she had asked about their high school past or heard them arguing about reunions or wedding invites, they had been closed off toward her. Now, though, she finally understood some of the issues going on in her parents' lives.

Ms. Montgomery awoke her from her thoughts, asking what Sydney thought was the overall theme of the play.

"The characters, women especially, have little control over their lives and are easily fooled by the appearances of others. They are played with like dolls, although a character who seems completely corrupt may reveal himself or herself as a better person. Likewise, the decisions made that seem corrupt may be a product of their situation rather than a lack of moral character."

The answer seemed to satisfy Ms. Montgomery, although she noticed one of Emily's friends watching her after.

Emily's friend group was what confused her the most about her parents' pasts. They all seemed so close to her mama now, but Sydney couldn't remember a single time they had ever been mentioned. The one watching her now killed her sister's fiancé once, or something, she had heard.

When class let out, Sydney made her way to her locker, finding a note placed inside. There was no name attached, just a place to meet after school.

She found Paige first, telling her that she couldn't train with her and Emily right after school but would meet them at the sing-along, saying her aunt needed her help for something. She decided it wasn't completely a lie, as she was certain that Mona had sent her the note.

"Side parking lot, here I am," Sydney thought, looking around for the other girl. A nearby car flashed their brights, and Sydney got in, not noticing a certain brunette staring her down.

Rushing back into the school, Spencer found Emily and Aria in the quad.

"I think Sydney is more involved in A drama than we think," Spencer said before the others even realized she was there.

"Spence, you think someone new is A weekly. Besides, A is gone now, ok?" Emily reasoned.

"Were you not in English class today, Em? Played with like dolls? That's totally an A thing!"

"Spencer, does that make Henrik Ibsen A for writing it? Or is my mom A for making it required reading?" Aria chimed in.

Spencer was about to retort when she saw Paige McCullers headed their way.

"Hey Emily, I just wanted to let you know that Sydney can't train with us today. Something came up and her aunt needed her, I guess," Paige informed.

"Oh really? Is that what she told you? That's interesting, seeing as how she was leaving in Mona's car," Spencer replied.

Emily and Aria shared a look. Spencer could be persistent when she thought someone was A, but being seen with Mona was a huge red flag. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to keep an eye on the younger girl, just in case something was going on.

Paige, especially, felt distraught. Just yesterday, Mona had threatened her and brought up Sydney. What if something bad was happening to Sydney and it was her fault?


	7. Chapter 7

Mona parked the car near the abandoned cabin on the lake. The ride over had been silent as Sydney tried to figure out what her aunt knew and what she wanted to hear. When Mona got out, Sydney quickly followed suit.

"You know, everyone in this town has secrets. People come here with secrets and leave with even more. I used to love knowing everyone's secrets. Being able to exploit them. It made me feel powerful. You must know that though, from your hours of research in the library," Mona stated as they made their way up to the deck.

"Everyone is so enigmatic here. I think it's natural to want some answers," Sydney deflected.

"I thought it was interesting the first time I saw you. You looked at me like you knew me, but I just couldn't place you from anywhere. I tried researching you. Fake name, fake back-story. Facial recognition came up with zilch. Now how does a girl like you just appear one day, from off the grid?"

Sydney made no move to answer, as Mona continued.

"I noticed you started your searches with Paige and Emily. At first I thought 'long-lost relative' or 'secret twin' but that seemed too soap opera-ish. Still, in the time you've been in Rosewood, you've only focused on making a connection to those two. So, I kept looking. Do you know what my number one wish would be?"

Sydney shook her head no, still confused at the angle Mona was taking.

"I always wanted a stop-watch that could stop time for only me. However, such a thing is outside the realms of physics. However, a part of me believes that time travel into the past would be possible. What do you think?"

"Um, yeah. Who knows what they'll invent in the future?" Sydney shrugged.

"That's cute. You know exactly what I will invent in the future, don't you Sydney Fields? Or is it, Sydney McCullers?"

Sydney gasped, slightly, letting Mona continue.

"Here's what I think happened. The future daughter of Paige McCullers and Emily Fields broke into MY workshop and stole MY time machine, traveling back here. It would explain the tire tracks, the strange looks, all that research, wouldn't it?"

"That's an interesting hypothesis…."

Looking up, Sydney realized they were back at the car after walking the length of the deck.

Stepping back inside, Mona gestured at her.

"I will figure out why you're here. If it interferes with my plans at all, you will leave, understood?"

Sydney nodded, not even bothering to mention her inability to leave.

"Let's get you back to school for that sing-along, then?" Mona said before starting the car.

**A/N:** It's been a while since I visited this story. I stopped watching the show for a bit, but recently revisited the series. Hoping to give this story some closure soon though! Some crazy plot twists happened in 5b, so I'm currently deciding how to deal with all of that.


	8. Chapter 8

Back at school, Spencer and Aria tried to come up with a plan to evaluate whether Sydney was in on the A threats. Paige and Emily sat with them, although they were more vocal in voicing their objections.

"Spence, you do remember when Mona and Toby tried to trick us into thinking Paige was A, right? And how they would have succeeded if not for…" Emily waved her arms around, referencing the event with Nate.

"Emily's right, I didn't want to worry anyone, but Mona threatened me yesterday and mentioned Sydney and Emily potentially getting hurt."

"That's brilliant! Of course she did! I bet you're both all concerned about Sydney right now, afraid that Mona is going to hurt her, right? Instead, Mona just threw you both off her and Sydney's tracks," Spencer theorized.

"I don't know, Spencer," Aria responded, "Let's start with just asking Toby to see if anything comes up on the police database? We'll keep our potential enemies close, for now?"

Spencer relented for now, texting Toby while making a list of Sydney's classes, training schedule, and her library time—in a separate column she wrote who they knew in each class and put down shifts for the out-of-school time.

"One of us is in every class of her's—except theater. Technically Hanna's in it, but…" Spencer trailed off.

Spencer, Aria, and Emily exchanged looks. With Alison back, Hanna had gone off the deep end and the girl hardly showed up to school anymore. At the moment, Aria and Hanna were fighting over something, but the other girls weren't sure what.

"It's not a big deal, Spence. The rest of the classes are enough. We don't need Hanna getting black-out drunk and spilling our secrets to her, right?" Aria replied.

Seeing the time, Aria and Spencer headed for the parking lot and their respective vehicles. Meanwhile, Paige and Emily sat in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Paige cleared her throat and began speaking.

"I mean, it's not really that bad if we go along with Spencer's plan, right? We wanted to get to know her better anyway."

"I guess we should look on the bright side. We're just getting to know her and making sure she's not in danger too. What do you think about inviting her to Spencer's tomorrow? Aria and I were planning on spending the night there anyway, but if you two both come then maybe we can get some answers as well."

Feeling uneasy about their strategy, the girls headed toward the theatre room where they planned to meet Sydney.


	9. Chapter 9

Reeling from her conversation with Mona, Sydney walks the couple blocks from where her aunt had dropped her off. Her aunt had always been able to tell when she was lying and it appeared that this past-version of her was no different.

The girl pondered if telling Mona everything would really be so bad. Mona had figured out almost all the details—except for the relationship between them and her inability to go back to her own time.

Would she believe her, though, if she told her how close Mona and her moms would be in the future? And what if she was still planning whatever "hurt she wished she could take back" and she couldn't talk her out of it?

Her moms and Mona had always told her it was better to not dwell on their past together, as there were times when they were all unkind to each other. Right now, however, she wished they would have shared a little more of the mystery with her.

Reaching the school doors, she took a couple deep breaths before entering. As she walked by the counselor's office, a blonde girl exited. She recognized her from the newspaper clippings: Alison DiLaurentis, the dead girl walking.

Sydney couldn't help but examine the girl who started the whole thing in the first place. It seemed every mystery in this town related back to her. She was certainly pretty, almost angelic-looking, which conflicted with the "complete devil" statements some of her classmates had uttered.

However, Sydney didn't notice much else once she saw Alison's necklace: a simple silver chain with an ornate locket on it. Walking around the corner, she pulled out the same necklace from her pocket. Her mama's special necklace, the very one she had gotten in trouble for borrowing.

Why did Alison have it? Was it originally hers? Did they get matching lockets? Sydney's mind filled with several questions she didn't have time to ponder as she saw Paige and Emily approaching.

"Everything alright with your aunt?" Paige asked her.

"Yeah, she was just a little confused on one of her projects," Sydney lied.

Settling into one on the benches set up for the sing-along, the girls delved into small talk as other students ambled in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Spencer sat on her floor, laptop in front of her, waiting for Toby to arrive. So far, she couldn't find any online presence for a Sydney Driscoll whatsoever. No facebook, no twitter, no online mention at all. Approximately 25,000 people in the U.S. with her last name. Maybe she could ask Emily to find out her parents' first names to narrow it down, she thought.

A knock at the door alerted her to Toby's presence.

"Nothing, right?"

"She literally popped out of nowhere. No record of her. She didn't even have her parents come with her when she registered at your school. I haven't gone through them yet, but here are all the home sales within 10 miles of Rosewood for the last two months."

Spencer grabbed the stack of papers, quickly scanning the list. "No Driscoll's on here either. She's another freaking Shana."

"You think Alison knows her?"

"Only one way to find out," Spencer replied, looking out the window toward Alison's room.


	10. Chapter 10

As the credits rolled, Emily checked her phone seeing a text from Spencer.

-No record of this girl. Be careful-

She rolled her eyes. The girl was like 15. What did Spencer expect? A juvy record? Public birth certificate?

Turning toward Sydney, she asked if the girl needed a ride home. As expected, the girl declined saying she had a ride.

Making eye contact with Paige, the other girl took her lead.

"Oh cool, we'll wait for you though. It's starting to get dark."

"Oh, you really don't have to! I need to drop off a book at the library anyway and I wouldn't want you to have to wait," Sydney rattled off before quickly leaving the room.

Sighing, Paige asked "Do you want to wait outside the library?"

"No let's not push her for now. She agreed to come over to Spencer's tomorrow. Knowing Spence, that will be provoking enough."

The two walked out to their cars together, the air between them reminiscent of one of their past dates.

"Are you sure you want me to come? I can always say I can't make it at the last minute if you want."

"I'm sure. Partly because I want Sydney to have someone else on her side but partly because I didn't realize how much I missed spending time with you."

After saying their goodbyes, both girls drove home while replaying the conversation in their heads.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The evening had been going reasonably well so far. Emily, Aria, and Paige had managed to divert the majority of Spencer's over-the-top questions and get through two movies before the real interrogation came.

"So like, how come you don't have a facebook?"

"My parents are kind of overprotective when it comes to putting things online, I guess."

It wasn't really a lie. Her moms had discussed privacy concerns and stalkers and cyber bullying at great lengths with her. Back then, it had been annoying and she thought they were overreacting but now that she knew about all this A-drama, she understood it a little more.

"Oh, what about a cell phone?"

Sydney pulled out the cheap phone she had bought, "Just for emergencies."

"But they let you come over her without knowing me?"

"I guess? They know how helpful Emily and Paige have been since I started at Rosewood so maybe they thought it was fine."

"They're okay with you staying late in the library too, though?"

"Well, I mean, they know that things are busy with the swim team now and they want me to meet people and it's easier to do homework in the library and…"

Paige cut in, "Enough, Spencer! We all know how odd some parents are in this town."

Aria sent Sydney a reassuring look before suggesting her and Spencer go make more popcorn.

"Sorry about that. Spencer can be a little intense around new people," Emily told her.

"Yeah, I think the first thing she ever told me was 'I will destroy you,' although I kind of deserved it at the time," Paige commented.

"You know we all have moved on from that," Emily replied, the two sharing a look that Sydney couldn't decipher.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Aria, come on. You can tell she's hiding something. That phone? Perfect burner. If she's someone texting us, we'd never trace it to her! Or if Mona is texting her what to do? Did you see how surprised she was that we knew about the library?

Turning on the microwave, Aria turned toward Spencer. She felt caught between Spencer and Emily—Emily believed that the girl was totally innocent whereas Spencer thought she was highly involved in this mess. Aria herself didn't really know. However, she had learned that the only way to distract Spencer is to give her a more elaborate plan.

"Ok, maybe she is. But if she really is just one of A's minions, what happens when we catch her? A just moves on and we're no closer to figuring this out, right?"

"So we need to use her as bait! Keep being nice to her and hoping she slips up and leads us directly to Mona or A or whoever!"

"Good plan, Spence," Aria said as she took out the popcorn. Hopefully this new plan would give Emily and Paige some time to prove that Sydney wasn't involved in the A-drama, if the girl really was innocent.

The two girls reentered the living room and the rest of the night was much more civil than the earlier outburst.


End file.
